What the hell is up with that?

In the word used by Seinfeld and adorned by so many for it’s implications, "Newman" has become a part of our everyday lives.  Today I had the opportunity to use it and have the very man it implicates sitting downstairs at the restaurant.  Newman was in our restaurant eating like the average Joe that frequents our establishment.  Oddly he was thinner than the footage suggests him to be.  And that impeccable smile is really his smile.  In an attempt to not crowd him with stares or the typical gawking that celebrities are probably accustomed to I merely tried to ignore him.  The fact that his back was to me and I could not verify his identity without attempting to use the men’s room only made ignoring him easier.  Finally he paid his check and exited as if to say: "Yes, it’s me…Newman."  He politely smiled and told all of us boozing around the bar to have a nice afternoon to which we all replied: "Thank you, you too."  In all of us was the urge to just say it.  It surely was a topic of conversation that I am sure he overheard bits and pieces of.  Mostly the bits and pieces that included the singular phrase "Newman" in a sly and contemtual voice.  He had taken it well and with great pride walked out the front door with a smile on his face.  Was the smile from the fact that we had all kept a safe distance or that we had "quietly" acknowledged his success as the infamous man that made us laugh?  Either way he acknowledged us and that was truly human of him. 

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